J-D girls swimmers win Class B sectional title

First the Coyne sisters took their turns gathering up race victories. Then Molly Hair and Hayley Schultz made their decisive moves.

Put it all together, and it meant that the Jamesville-DeWitt girls swim team would hold off host New Hartford and earn first place in Friday night’s Section III Class B championship meet, the start of a glorious weekend on the Red Rams’ part.

Every bit of the main quartet’s efforts, plus plenty of help, was needed for the Red Rams to pick up 546 points and beat the Spartans, who earned 481 points to take second place.

J-D got to the lead right from the start, in the 200 medley relay. Kalie and Alden Coyne, joined by Schultz and Sophia Farchione, recorded a time of one minutes, 50.91 seconds that qualified them for the Nov. 22-23 state meet at Ithaca College and beat New Hartford (1:59 flat) by more than eight seconds.

Then the Coyne sisters went to work on an individual basis. Kalie Coyne dominated the 200 individual medley, prevailing in a state-qualifying 2:11.26, nearly seven seconds ahead of the field, and also won the 100 butterfly as, with a time of 59.58 seconds, Kalie was the only competitor to break the one-minute mark, again going fast enough for a berth in the state meet.

Alden Coyne took her turn in the sprints, joining Kate Salvo for a 1-2 finish in the 50 freestyle as Coyne won in 24.96 seconds and Salvo (25.74 seconds) took runner-up honors. Then the same thing happened in the 100 freestyle as, in 54.30 seconds, Alden clinched a state meet berth and Salvo gained second place in 55.80 seconds.

Hair did not race until the 200 freestyle relay, when she paired up with Salvo and the Coyne sisters for yet another J-D victory in 1:40.31, again beating the state meet qualifying standard and topping New Hartford (1:47.10) by nearly seven seconds.

Without any breather, Hair turned around and, in the 100 backstroke, won in 1:00.75, edging out Farchione (1:01.23) for that top spot. Going for three in a row, Hair had to settle for second place in the 100 breaststroke (1:09.62), but there was a good reason for it.

That was Schultz, who saved her most impressive performance for the 100 breaststroke. Having finished second (1:02.04) to Kalie Coyne in the 100 butterfly, Schultz would own this race, as her time of 1:08.22 set a J-D school record, earned her a berth in the state meet and, as a bonus, helped clinch the team title for the Rams.

Meg Parker was second in the 200 freestyle in 2:04.73 and also the runner-up in the 500 freestyle in 5:39.77. In addition, Parker helped Salvo, Marissa Potamianos and Samantha Coombs take second place in the 400 freestyle relay in 3:49.33, less than a second behind New Hartford, who won in 3:48.79.

Coombs, on her own, got sixth in both the 50 freestyle (26.56 seconds) and 100 freestyle (57.84 seconds), while Potamianos was sixth in the 200 freestyle (2:11.10) and 100 butterfly (1:07.32). Meredith Wagner took fifth place in the 500 freestyle in 5:52.08.

Two days later, in the overall sectional meet at Hamilton College, J-D won again, picking up 350 points to edge Class A champion West Genesee (344.5 points) for top honors.

Again, the Rams would win the 200 medley relay as Farchione, Schultz and the Coyne sisters edged Oswego, 1:50.71 to 1:50.93, with Kalie Coyne going on to win the 200 IM in 2:10.28, nearly six seconds ahead of the field.

Alden Coyne was second in the 50 freestyle in 24.60 seconds and fourth (53.57 seconds) in the 100 freestyle. Hair picked up points, too, as she qualified for the state meet with a second-place time of 59.43 seconds in the 100 backstroke, and was third in the 100 breaststroke (1:09.93), just behind Schultz (1:09.41) in second place.

The team title was in issue right to the end. After Hair, Salvo and the Coyne sisters finished second (1:40.06) to Oswego (1:39.74) in a tight 200 freestyle relay, the Rams clinched the victory when Coombs, Parker, Potaminaos and Salvo earned second place in the last event, the 400 freestyle relay, with a time of 3:47.01, getting the clinching points even though West Genesee (3:40.16) won that race.

While all this was going on, Christian Brothers Academy was picking up a fifth-place finish against the large-school powers in the sectional Class A meet, earning 209 points as host West Genesee, with 458 points, took first place. Fayetteville-Manlius was eighth with 87 points.

CBA’s Annie Fletcher nearly got a victory in the 500 freestyle, making her way to second place in a time of 5:25.76, trailing only Oswego’s Brenna Riley, who won in 5:21.74. She would also finish second in the 500 freestyle (5:27.28) to Riley (5:22.08) at Sunday’s overall sectional final.

Back at the Class A meet, Fletcher was fifth in the 200 freestyle in 2:02.49 and joined teammates Julia Torell, Tessa Queri and Beth Lumia to gain sixth place in the 200 medley relay in 2:02.17.